Mine
by shenronprincess
Summary: Why did you really save me, Vegeta? They were dead, lost to the world they once knew and desperately fighting for the survival of their souls. "Because you're mine", Vegeta declares, "Mine to conquer, mine to bend, and mine to take. Mine." For kakavege week: Prompt 20. Defending Each Other. Fusion Reborn movie rewrite.


Mine

By: Shenronprincess

Disclaimer: Dragon Ball and its characters belong to Akira Toriyama, etc and I do not make any profit from this work.

 _Pain_ …Vegeta knew the meaning of the word intimately. For the people he once betrayed he was damned to the pits of hell without his body, his pride, or even his honor. His sacrifice had meant nothing. The royal title he had borne like a cross for his entire life was meaningless. In the dark, he was just another wicked soul who had done wicked deeds in the name of someone even more wicked than himself. In the dark, he was simply Vegeta - The fallen prince of a mighty but dead race.

He didn't know for how long he wallowed in the shadow of these dark thoughts and misery since time down here was torturously slow and punishing. Vegeta couldn't even fathom how it was possible to still have such awareness of it either. The only thing he had left was an unconquerable spirit; still fighting despite being stripped of just about everything else it ever possessed and knew.

So when he unexpectedly felt the strength renewed in his toned limbs and the feel of his body made flesh again, Vegeta was shocked and oddly reflective. Everything looked the same, his eyes, face, and body returned as they once were on Earth, but he knew something was different about him now. He had a purpose. Vegeta was meant to do something and sensing a wavering in the foundations of the surrounding landscape he suddenly knew what it was.

Vegeta traveled quickly to where he felt the familiar ki signature in one of the many levels of this rank place. It was him…Kakarot. Unmistakably warm like the brightest sun, the aura of the man he betrayed on Earth flitting back and forth to escape his doom at the hands of a purple and red horned demon.

Seeing the familiar image of the Earth raised saiyan after so long stirred something deep within the fallen prince. Spellbound, Vegeta paused to observe the other man in action. Weaving around an area filled with gelatinous energy, Kakarot's movements were fluid and his attacks brutal in their delivery as the foundations of hell shook with the force of the battle. Fighting at full power with his golden locks swaying behind him like a lion's mane, his rival was a sight to behold - fierce, savage, and every bit a true saiyan warrior in his fury.

 _Not that he would ever admit such a thing to the other saiyan_ , Vegeta inwardly mused as he continued to watch the battle. Yet what he saw next gave him cause for concern.

Vegeta looked on with growing trepidation as Kakarot fought a good battle and used all the strength he possessed, but despite it all, still had his hands full fending off the strange creature. In the end, even transforming into that accursed third form had not been enough to defeat his enemy.

Now trapped in a red cube and facing certain extinction, Vegeta shifted as Kakarot was at the mercy of his foe. Making a quick decision, the prince leaped into the fray. Sitting back had been hard enough. He could stand idle as a spectator no longer. That blasted creature would not destroy what was his.

Sword raised and poised to strike, the demon Janemba grinned with gleeful malice, his beady eyes flashing in assured victory. And that is when the prince struck; Vegeta was summoning his energy, forming a ball of light in the palms of his hands. The bright warmth and power of the ki electrified his entire aura and reminded him yet again of his temporary rebirth. To be whole again - mind, body, and soul - even for a moment was a precious gift; one he never truly appreciated until this moment.

Vegeta, smirking cunningly, now released the gathered energy and reaching forward, he aimed the glowing ki right at the charging enemy. The sphere curving toward him made its impact and shrieking in indignation and fury the demon growled and pulled back to assess the situation and the new intruder.

Freefalling and tumbling from his prison, he watched Kakarot land hard on the ground beneath them. While the attack caught the demon by surprise and put a stop to its assault, Vegeta had a feeling it was not over just yet.

Peering at the younger saiyan moving on the ground, Vegeta grunted in satisfaction. It seemed Kakarot was relatively safe for the moment and Vegeta took the opportunity to go and speak to his old rival.

Stirring against the pain in his body, Goku now pushed himself up to sit on his rear. He was still slightly disoriented from the fall but it occurred to him that someone had swooped in and saved him at the last minute and for that he was eternally grateful.

Recovering quickly and looking back to thank his rescuer who was descending near his position, he heard the voice of someone lost yet very familiar.

"How many times must I tell you? Only I have the right to end your pitiful existence." Vegeta growled, landing gracefully with his back facing the seated warrior.

"Vegeta?" Goku turned from his position on the floor to stare up in wonder at his rival, "But how?"

"I'm curious about that too. I don't know how I got my body back. Death was like a dream you can't wake from. Darkness was all that surrounded me."

Goku listened, brooding for a moment while still glancing at Vegeta's upright form.

"It must be because of what happened at the check in station," he spoke with sudden insight, remembering the explosion that released the souls from hell and led to all this chaos.

"It doesn't matter, Kakarot," Vegeta replied, craning his neck to stare at the younger saiyan by his feet, "I am here and I am ready to fight. Stay back while I handle this."

"But he's strong," Goku reached out to stop the other but it was too late, Vegeta launched himself into the air and had begun his counterassault.

With a series of furious and well timed kicks and jabs, Vegeta's attack was solid but it seemed the demon was faster and craftier than ever before as it phased in and out of sight of the perturbed prince's charge.

Watching from his vantage point, Goku was ready to jump in again when he recovered enough of his energy, but he wasn't quite fast enough as the demon now grabbed Vegeta's neck and violently swung him around until he dropped out of his golden transformation.

Goku looked on in horror as Vegeta was driven through a field of colorful gum drops by Janemba's extended arm, his familiar crown of flame shaped hair peeking from above the strong grip. Sailing through the maze at rapid speed, Vegeta was unable to escape the vice like hold on his neck and had been slung dangerously toward a mountain of needle like spheres.

"Vegeta." Goku reacted in time, flying as fast as he could and caught the other saiyan just before his body would have struck the sharp protrusions.

Vegeta groaning in defeat against Kakarot was supported by him around the waist while he brought one of Vegeta's arms up to curl around his neck, falling through the needle stack beneath them and landing on a clear spot upon the ground.

Grimacing, Vegeta had wedged himself against a solid structure trying to calm his erratic heart beat. Kakarot leaned over him checking to see if he was hurt. Somehow this equaled weakness to Vegeta and he squinted, barking at the other saiyan in annoyance. "Why don't you just leave me be, Kakarot? I don't need your fucking help."

"I know, I know," Goku began as if trying to sooth a difficult child while simultaneously rising to check on their enemy's location, "but maybe it's me that could use _your_ help."

 _Was Kakarot really asking for his help again?_ The last words were whispered so low Vegeta had barely heard them. _Had the man really forgiven his betrayal back on earth or simply let it go because of their current circumstances?_ Vegeta wondered, one eye twitching in uncertainty. _But did it really matter now since they were both fighting for their survival in this hell?_ Vegeta supposed it didn't but his pride was all he had left and the fool always knew just how to insult it.

"Can he even be beat?" Vegeta asked, relenting to the inevitable reality of their situation, grunting in pain as he used the hard surface behind him as leverage to push his battered body up.

Goku gave him a determined look, one which always meant trouble in Vegeta's experience but he allowed the other saiyan to speak nonetheless.

"If we fight together as one."

Vegeta gave his rival a withering look. "Tch. You're a fool, he picked us apart," the saiyan prince growled out in frustration.

"Separately…yes."

"Separately?" Vegeta was now beginning to regret entertaining the idiotic Earth saiyan, "surely you're not speaking about-"

"Fusion, Vegeta."

"No way, clown," Vegeta adamantly refused, giving him a dark look of disdain.

"But it's the only way to defeat him."

"Listen to me well, Kakarot. I've already tainted my warrior's pride enough with that majin sorcery. I refuse to use another's power as a crutch again," the older saiyan insisted, trying to persuade the younger from that ridiculous plan.

"But we would be unstoppable as one being," Goku declared with such confidence and passion that Vegeta paused and looked at him in wonder.

Something was kindling in Vegeta's heart at that speech, desires he had long buried beneath the surface of his rage and hatred for the other. But had he really hated Kakarot as much as he claimed he did, Vegeta wouldn't be standing here listening to the other's crazy ideas _. Would he?_

"I need your help, Vegeta," he heard Kakarot plainly ask, "I can't do this alone."

The Earth raised saiyan whispered so imploringly at him, and Vegeta guessed the old adage "there is a thin line between love and hate" to be true. A warm feeling spread throughout his body. Entranced, he suddenly leaned a little closer to his rival.

"Please…"

Vegeta heard the pleading whisper from Kakarot's lips yet again but this time accompanied by dark soulful eyes with the hint of hope shining over their surface. _Irresistible eyes really, if one thought about it._

"Vegeta?" Goku interrupted the other saiyan's thoughts, a growing misgiving coursing through him at the strange looks he was receiving.

A mischievous twinkle shone in the saiyan prince's glittering eyes as he regarded the other male from his spot, "Is the mighty Kakarot actually _begging_ for my help?" he finally chuckled, feeling the sexually charged tension multiply tenfold between them at his statement.

Grunting, Vegeta pushed back from his rocky support and limped toward the tempting saiyan just in front of him. A peculiar purring sound was building in his throat and vibrating off his defined chest. Kakarot's begging had awoken his saiyan instincts, and the oozaru beast within him was clamoring to be released from its chains and take what was clearly ripe for the picking.

"Yes," Goku managed to reply but held a bated breath as dark fathomless eyes scrutinized his every move, roving over him and touching on every inch of his quivering sculpted physique.

Goku shivered, feeling as if he was standing there naked and bared to the other saiyan and completely at his mercy. No one had ever gazed at him the way his fallen prince was eyeing him now, not even the fiery woman back on Earth that he called wife, and it was sending his instincts rapidly into overload. He opened his mouth to complain but no words above a harsh whisper escaped through his lips, and for the first time in the warrior's life he was left totally speechless.

"Hmmm," Vegeta rumbled, rolling the sound into a deeper purr as he sized Goku up with a predatory look, "What else are you willing to beg me for, Kakarotto?"

Vegeta smirked knowingly as he watched his prey shiver and squirm like a worm caught on a hook. Unknowingly the other saiyan was emitting pheromones of stress into the air and the sharp scent was spiking the arousal now coiling in Vegeta's lower abdomen, making the blood in his veins pulse and burn hotly in expectation.

 _Kami,_ Goku shook uncontrollably and cursed _, what was Vegeta up to?_ A pensive silence had ensued between them after the prince's loaded question, and Goku breathed deeply into his lungs pulling in fresh air as he tried to regain his composure.

Vegeta sure had a way of unnerving and unraveling him with just the look in his eyes, and his sudden proximity was causing strange feelings and thoughts to spark to life within the Earth saiyan - ones he never imagined acting on before this moment.

"Vegeta?" Goku finally managed to say, gathering his courage and addressing his fellow saiyan calmly.

He wanted so badly to give in to the temptation, especially when he witnessed the scowl on Vegeta's face shift into a look of need, reflecting a desperate desire for something tangible to hold in the dark.

Hesitantly, Goku stirred and reached out a hand to him, but the eerie silence of their hiding spot was suddenly shattered by the sound and feel of pinpricks of laser light as the dark entity hovering outside the mountain grew impatient with the stalemate and fired a barrage of ki in the stack, sending sharp needles flying in every direction.

Acting quickly, Goku rushed away from the main blast, diving toward his companion in time as they were both nearly impaled beyond saving.

The entire enclosure had been rocked hard but by some miracle withstood the attack.

Goku groaning from his spot on the ground pushed himself back onto his feet and ran over to check on his injured comrade, "Vegeta, are you ok?"

His frustration and anger now apparent, Vegeta turned onto his stomach and formed his hands into fists. "Do I look ok to you, Kakarot?" Vegeta bit back as the lacerations all over his body caused him to tremble and groan, "And the most painful thing is that you've gotten stronger while I remained the same."

Twin tears fell in rivulets from the fallen prince's eyes, and Goku felt a bit of an ache in his heart seeing such a proud man break down right in front of him.

"It's true, but please understand Vegeta, I was training for the last seven years in Otherworld. It's only natural I progressed," Goku kneeled down and began, hoping to ease the deep hurt of the other saiyan, "You amaze me even more though. Your strength is the same considering you haven't had a body to train with this whole time."

Vegeta wasn't certain but he suspected that little speech was Kakarot's way of showing pity, and he was thoroughly repulsed by the idea. Whatever else he may have wanted from the other saiyan, it sure as hell wasn't that meeching sentiment.

"Save me your pity, Kakarot." Vegeta growled, sitting up and grabbing Goku's tattered gi shirt, glaring as he witnessed the soft expression in the other's obsidian eyes.

"Ok, Vegeta," Goku gently intoned, "I don't want to argue with you with what little time we have left down here. Just grab a hold of me. Let's find a safer place and we can figure out what to do from there."

Goku held out a hand hoping the other saiyan would take it but instead he rose and presented his back to him.

"Do you know what it was like down here without a body or true consciousness for so long?" Vegeta sighed, his voice reflective and shoulders stiff.

"No," Goku whispered back.

"It was…lonely," Vegeta confessed, turning now to face the other saiyan.

"I'm sorry." Goku was deeply touched by the honest feeling even more so than the tears from earlier.

Vegeta humphed, "That famous pity again."

"Come on," Goku soothed, "it's not pity. I care about you, you know."

"Tch," the irritated prince snarled, "You care about everyone."

"Vegeta," Goku gently admonished but was surprised by the jealous undertone underlying the other saiyan's words.

His cheeks coloring, Goku wondered at the implication. He opened his mouth to question his moody companion but quickly closed it. Goku had a feeling it would be unwise to stir that particular pot again, and before his thoughts could wander any further, Vegeta continued.

"I'll do it, Kakarot."

"What?"

"Fusion," Vegeta grumbled, "show it to me."

"Vegeta," Goku sighed in gratitude and opened his mouth to say something more but hearing a roar from their right, he never had a chance to reply.

There was no more time for words. Janemba had grown weary of skulking outside and decided to level the entire place.

Goku swiftly grabbed Vegeta and teleported somewhere safer and farther away.

"Ready, Vegeta." Goku began, "We have to sync our power and harmonize our spirits perfectly for the technique to work. Our postures must also be like a mirror image to one another."

Currently hunched over in a seated position against a reflective rock, the saiyan prince was listening to his companion trying to explain the fusion pose he had reluctantly agreed to perform.

"Our what?" Vegeta's surprised cry echoed all around them.

"Here let me show you. Watch me for a minute," Goku explained, hoping he wouldn't lose Vegeta with what he had to show him. He got the impression the other saiyan wasn't going to be too happy about it, "The pose is kinda like a cross between a kata and ballet."

"Ballet?" To say Vegeta was outraged as he sat there listening to the foolish Earth saiyan was an understatement.

"Just watch, Vegeta. It's easier than me trying to explain it."

Goku performed a plié, arms extending out and moving from the right to the left along with his body as he called out "Fu-" brought the arms back again and turned his bent right leg to the left and called out "Sion." All the while explaining it was like two flowing rivers converging and meeting in the middle. "Ha," he finished, using the bent knee as leverage to fully extend and lean toward the left with his index fingers pointing to where Vegeta's would touch in reverse.

"You're insane. I'm not posing like that." Vegeta was downright pissed but pissed wasn't quite strong enough to describe what he was currently feeling at the moment.

"Well, I know it looks a bit ridiculous but it's the end result that matters. Besides, we're all alone out here. No one is going to see us."

Goku tried to calm the irritated prince, but the moment those words escaped his mouth he realized just how acutely suggestive it all sounded. A hot blush warmed his cheeks a second before Vegeta gave his reply.

"Listen to me Kakarot," Vegeta rumbled, coming very close to where Goku stood, grasping his chin roughly with one hand to look up into his curious eyes, "We're warriors not ballerinas. That pose is not befitting anyone of our station."

"Do you have any better ideas then?" Goku mumbled underneath his breath but instantly regretted his choice of words.

A heated look now shimmered in Vegeta's dark eyes as they roved over every inch of Goku's exposed chest that was barely covered by the tattered remains of his gi. Goku breathed more heavily, words caught in his throat as he felt like a trapped animal in the jaws of a relentless predator. He could make out the glint of Vegeta's fangs as he smirked deviously, pink tongue flicking over and moistening his parched lips before reaching over and grasping the remaining shred of cloth still clinging to Goku's shoulder and ripping it away.

"What are you doing?" Goku nervously yelped when his top was completely pulled off of him, a flighty feeling making his stomach do somersaults but he stayed fixed in his spot, mesmerized by the prince who was so close now their bodies were almost touching.

Vegeta sensing something had changed in the other saiyan, smiled knowingly. The hand that had been rough before as it gripped his chin made its way to the back of Goku's neck and found purchase there, wrapping securely around his sweaty nape.

Goku's blush rapidly spread over his entire torso as the same hungry expression from their time in the needle stack was gracing Vegeta's face, threatening to utterly decimate his resolve.

With his heart beat quickening and pulsing in his veins, Goku was unable and unwilling to pull away. The same warm and giddy sensation he always felt around Vegeta surfaced again but this time the more naïve of the two recognized it for what it was - he was completely and hopelessly in love with Vegeta.

Goku also had a feeling the prince was fully aware of this, as he felt burning fingers pressing into his skin when the hand cupping the back of his neck pulled their faces and lips even closer together, Vegeta's breath coming out in warm puffs as it mingled with his own. "I've got a better dance to show you, Kakarot," he crooned sensually as the thumb near Goku's hairline stroked over his sweaty skin in random patterns.

"Vegeta," Goku half pleaded in a bid to escape, trying to stifle the growing heat encompassing his entire body that his closeness and touch was inciting, "we shouldn't be doing this."

Goku wouldn't succumb. He couldn't falter now. He told himself these things only half believing them. Even as the thoughts ran through his mind, Goku was falling and giving in, and he remembered something his grandfather had once told him as a child. He didn't understand it then seeing how sheltered from the world he truly was but he thought he did now in this instant.

 _Bridges were sometimes meant to burn so that others could be rebuilt from their ashes._

He thought Vegeta lost to him, a bridge burned in jealous rage. Yet here the man was, reaching out to him, extending his hand to renew the broken bond - Perhaps to bridge a different kind of bond altogether.

 _Could Goku let go of his fear and take it?_ _Could he let Vegeta see the truth?_ He looked down at the prince and for the first time in a long while he felt tears gathering and threatening to spill down his cheeks. But before that could happen Goku quickly clenched his eyelids shut, trying desperately to stifle the feelings coursing through him like a hurricane. It wouldn't do to bare so much of his heart to the other saiyan, especially after all that majin business back on Earth.

"What's the matter, Kakarot?" Vegeta teased, provoking the younger male into a response, "Are you scared of me or something?"

"No." Goku answered a little too fast and with that he opened his eyes, unwillingly baring the vulnerability and emotions churning within him to the prince.

Now a mere inch away Vegeta grunted softly, his lips moving again. "So why do you cry and tremble like a leaf against me?

"Y-You're too close." It was a lie…a deflection and Goku tried to move back to put space between their heated bodies but Vegeta's hand still held him steady behind his neck.

"Am I now?" Vegeta gave the other saiyan a satisfied look, reaching up with his other hand to wipe at the moisture that ran down his one cheek.

"Vegeta, we can't."

"I don't see why not," Vegeta began, tracing his rival's perfectly plump lips with the pad of his thumb, "We're all alone out here, no one is going to see us," he whispered back Kakarot's words to him, watching how the redness on his cheeks intensified and blossomed like a scarlet rose, "Were those not your very same sentiments, Kakarotto?"

"But this wasn't what I had in m-" Vegeta's eyes sparked passionately and it made Goku groan underneath his breath.

"Oh?" He mocked and seduced at the same time, "But it's what _I_ have in mind."

Smirking, Vegeta hastily cut off any further protest from Kakarot and closed the gap between them, branding his lips with a searing kiss and swallowing the surprised whimper the younger saiyan released into his mouth.

Hot, impossibly so, were the lips as they worshipped and caressed Goku's with a passion he never knew the other man possessed inside. Hands even hotter traced the lines of his well formed body, brushing against his corded arms and resting on his waist to run smooth circles in the dip of his lower back.

Vegeta was all but devouring his mouth, wet tongue delving in and battling for dominance with his own while he ground the hardness between his legs insistently against Goku's thigh.

Lower still his hands went and pressed into a hollow of a familiar scar sending delicious shivers and tingles running up Goku's spine and causing him to buck wildly in response, his growing erection pressing into Vegeta's stomach.

A feeling like lighting passed through his body. It hadn't taken long for Vegeta's groping hands and feverish lips to sweep Goku up completely with their lust. The evidence of it clearly pulsed between his thighs and his hips were still thrusting of their own accord against the other saiyan who was just as hard down below as he was.

Goku moaned against the other's devouring lips and tried to pull away. He had to put a stop to this before it was too late to turn back.

"Vegeta, there's no time." Blushing, breathing heavily, and resting his forehead against him, Goku broke the kiss and murmured brokenly.

Vegeta's smoldering eyes fixed his, glittering like black diamonds and wordlessly commanding him to continue.

Tasting his rival for the first time, Vegeta had been inundated with a familiar heat coursing through his veins and burning a path straight through his body. He was not about to stop now.

"Then we shall make time," he insisted, reaching down to cup the prominent erection tenting in Kakarot's gi pants, "Or would you rather fight with this?"

A dark laughter followed that statement and Vegeta's captivating gaze once again focused on him.

"That's not fair, Vegeta" Goku muttered hoarsely, moaning as the hand began to stroke his hard length through the material, making it stiffen painfully, "You play dirty."

Vegeta smirked wide enough so that his fangs were visible in his mouth, his hand still working between Kakarot's strong thighs, "I do indeed."

Panting heavily and unable to withstand the heat scorching his body and making his skin itch with need, Goku relented without further protest and gave in to the yearning he saw deep in the other man's soul - the same one now reflecting like a mirror within his own.

Clothes were strewn about in colorful piles of orange and blue, hard bodies melting into each other, pawing and scratching, licking and tasting. Goku was on his back, Vegeta's warm mouth encasing the hardness between his legs, sucking and pulling furiously, slicking the length with saliva.

"Vegetaaa."

Goku was in a state of absolute bliss, every fiber of his being lit up with ecstasy, and he cried out Vegeta's name like a litany as the man rose up and straddled his hips, guiding and sinking himself down inch by inch onto Goku's dripping manhood.

Groaning at the tight fit, Vegeta held each cheek open as he allowed it to fill his body to the hilt, finally coming to rest on Goku's toned abdomen. A sharp pain rushed up his spine with the rough entry but Vegeta relished the sensation, arching his back as he heard Goku howl with frantic need. Slowly Vegeta brought his body up and slammed back down, hitting something inside him that commingled the pleasure and pain.

"Kakarotto," Vegeta achingly cried and Goku sucked in his breath at the image of the older saiyan bowing his back and gnashing his teeth together.

Reaching up, he began to rub the narrow hips of his lover gently, hoping it would ease some of the discomfort he must be feeling but a sharp slap by Vegeta's hands surprised him.

"Move."

Smoldering dark eyes transfixed Goku as they pistoned against each other in tandem, Vegeta riding him with such passion he could feel it in the deepest part of his soul. Goku bucked up and Vegeta arced down. Their bodies met and converged, flowed out like a river, then met then converged all over again. It was lovemaking, slow and deep, and it was fusion, two perfect forces meeting in the middle to become one.

They were dancing like sacred black wolves coming together, one cautious yet hopeful and the other fierce but lonely, their eyes piercing and glowing like embers in the dark. And they danced…danced like the wolves they were in the midst of their summer heat, rutting as if possessed by their basest desires, throwing caution to the wind and giving of themselves mind, body, and soul.

Goku looked up in wonder at the glorious visage of his prince and his heart was overjoyed and filled profoundly with love. He felt the invisible scars from years of hurt, pain, and loss gradually fading away from Vegeta, replaced with the unfettered passion of every motion from the small hips moving over him in perfect sync and rhythm.

Vegeta raised his head and trilled a purr like sound akin to their primate ancestors and Goku's ears were flooded with the rich sounds and vibrations of each call as they moved with such vigor now, the ground around their bodies shook with its force.

Vegeta didn't know how long they had made love like this, only that he never felt such joy and freedom before. Ruled by others his entire life, he had known mostly pain and suffering. Even his little family back on earth had been a temporary salve to the loneliness he felt crucified by. Only Kakarot, the last of his kind, truly understood.

But the man had chosen to stay dead for nearly seven years and in those long years, Vegeta's madness had gradually won over his sanity. He couldn't live in a world knowing he had lost the only piece of his home that was left. Vegeta had felt betrayed by the other man's choice. Always bested by him and always forgotten too. But here they were at this moment, brought together by circumstance and desperation and Vegeta would not let the chance slip through his fingers.

Tonight, Kakarot would understand whom he truly belonged to.

"Vegeta?"

The afterglow of their bout was still warming his perspiring skin, a flush painting Goku's cheeks as he stared dreamily at his lover.

"Hmm?" Vegeta was spread onto his back, arms behind his head as he recovered his breathing. At the sound of Kakarot's gentle voice, he shifted slightly to stare deep into the other's eyes.

"Why did you really save me back there?" Goku whispered. He understood the other saiyan much better now but still felt vulnerable. Heart open and willing yet slightly cautious, he didn't relish feeling the sting of a broken heart due to unrequited love. "Was it really because you want to finish me off yourself?"

Vegeta snorted, regarding his companion with a softer look. "No. That is not my true reason for saving you."

"Why then?" Goku insisted.

"Because…you're mine, Kakarot," Vegeta declared openly, a promise reflecting in the surface of his obsidian eyes, "Mine to conquer, mine to bend, and mine to take. Mine. You got that, clown?"

He held Kakarot's gaze with his own and willed the other saiyan to see into the depths of his soul, tainted as it were. Sure there was jealousy and resentment there at some level but underneath that a real vulnerability existed and… something more. A gentle regard and feelings of love made Vegeta's heart beat faster now.

Goku sighed, watching as the emotions all twisted together and emanated from those glowing eyes - desire, lust, need, vulnerability, and lastly love. "Vegeta," Goku softly whispered, his being touched to the very core and all he wanted to do was stay within the warmth of the other man's regard forever.

But it would have to wait; they still had the business of dealing with a demon reeking havoc in Yemma's domain.

Rising off the now cold earth, Vegeta gave Goku a look of determination. "Come, let us fuse and kick that sorry demon's ass. I will forgo my pride this once."

Beaming with happiness and shaking what was left of the comfortable glow of their lovemaking away, Goku also rose up and now both men redressed and headed off to battle.

They proved unstoppable as the legendary Gogeta that day- the fiercest saiyan in the history of the universe. Fire surrounded his coming, encasing him in flames that were felt all the way back on Earth and throughout the deepest pits of hell. And all who encountered him felt awe at his power and bowed their heads.

With one last look at his foe, the warrior brought his hands together, gathering his energy and firing a blast that made the foundations around them shift and quake in its intensity. And when the dust cleared, Janemba was no more, his energy dissolved into nothingness, leaving behind a scared young man who rose up and scampered away in fear.

Now separate beings once again, both warriors were standing by a fountain and saying their last goodbyes. The love they had made earlier was still on Goku's mind, and he longed to hold the other saiyan in his arms and take him all over again.

Vegeta sensing the growing need in his new lover, smiled genuinely in his direction. The light emanating from within Goku casting him in its glow was like pure sunlight, warm and comforting in its beauty. Vegeta wanted to live in that light forever and bath in its promise of love, acceptance, and peace.

But, alas, it could never be. He looked down to see his own aura, but it was dim and infested with the dark deeds of his past. There would be no heaven for Vegeta, only darkness awaited him now.

Smiling again but this time wistfully, he looked up and saw glistening tears in the eyes of Kakarot. He understood all too well. Reaching out to him one last time, Vegeta caressed his face, wiping away the salty tracks that fell from those beautiful, doleful eyes.

Whispering these final words to his lover, Vegeta faded into the nothingness that awaited his return, "I will always be there for you, Kakarot."

"No," Goku called out as he watched the other saiyan begin to fade away, "Don't go."

"Never forget…You're mine."

Vegeta's last words carried to him like a cool wind and Goku's cry was vulnerable as he reached out his hand, desperate for one last touch of his lover but grasped empty air where the other had just been standing.

"Vegeta," He mournfully called, but Vegeta was gone, and Goku was all alone.

Absently wiping the moisture from his face, the saiyan warrior sat down to contemplate all he had gone through recently. He smiled despite it all. Smiled and closed his eyes, remembering the warmth and touch of his lover like it was the most precious thing he had ever possessed - even if it was just for a moment.

"I won't forget you, my prince," He spoke, seeing the other saiyan's image flash in his mind's eye, "I will always be yours."

Standing up, Goku began flying toward his otherworldly home. He would need to have a talk with King Kai when he got there. The Earth raised saiyan had saved his adopted home many times over the years never asking for anything in return. Now he had a small request in mind - One that he hoped would be granted.


End file.
